Maharashtra opener Swapnil Gugale hit a century as the hosts powered their way to 298 for 3 against Mumbai on the opening day of their elite Ranji Trophy Group A game on Thursday. Put in to bat at the MCA International Stadium in Gahunje on the outskirts of the city, Gugale (101) and his opening partner Chirag Khurana (71) laid a solid foundation with a 146-run stand.

The two batsmen, with their effective stroke play, made life difficult for Mumbai bowlers, who missed the experience of key pacers Dhawal Kulkarni and Tushar Deshpande, both out with injuries.

The 27-year-old Gugale hit 15 fours in his 191-ball knock, while Khurana notched 12 in his 106-ball stay at the wicket. After Khurana fell, one down Jay Pande (68 not out) joined Gugale as the two shared a 52-run stand.

But soon after completing his fourth first class century, Pune-born Gugale was cleaned up by right-arm medium pacer Shubham Ranjane (2-30). Skipper Rahul Tripathi (25 not out) was holding the fort with Pande at stumps.

Meanwhile at Vadodara, Baroda bowled out Chhattisgarh for a paltry 129 and then overhauled the total to be 36 ahead by close. At Rajkot, Saurashtra skipper Jaydev Shah, who is playing his last match, led from the front, scoring a valiant 97 as the hosts managed to post 288 for 9 against Karnataka.

At Valsad, Piyush Chawla slammed an unbeaten century to take hosts Gujarat to 340 for 8 against Railways. Gujarat skipper Priyank Panchal also proved his mettle by scoring a valuable 69.

Half-centuries by skipper B Indrajith (87) and debutant M Shahrukh Khan (82 batting) helped Tamil Nadu recover from 31 for 4 to a respectable 249 for 6 in 90 overs on the opening day of the Ranji Trophy Elite Group ‘B’ match here Thursday.

Electing to bat first, Tamil Nadu suffered an early jolt when the experienced Abhinav Mukund was leg-before wicket for a duck to Sandeep Warrier off the second ball of the match.

B Aparajith (3), who made a ton in the last match against Bengal, didn’t last too long and was done in by a beautiful delivery from Warrier.

Opener Kaushik Gandhi (19) and Dinesh Karthik (4), who is back in the state squad after being part of the national T20 side in the series against Australia, were sent back by Basil Thampi to leave Tamil Nadu in a spot of bother. Dinesh Karthik was caught brilliantly by K B Arun Karthick.

Indrajith first put on 50 runs for the fifth wicket with N Jagadeesan (21) to lead the home team’s recovery. Later, the captain added 103 runs for the sixth wicket with Shahrukh Khah. It was a phase in which the duo mixed caution and some aggressive play. The two countered the pacemen well and displayed some good footwork to take on the spinners. Indrajith looked good to score a century before being bowled by Warrier.

Shahrukh, who remained not out on 82 (7X4, 1X6) and M Mohammed (25 batting) added 65 runs for the seventh wicket to help Tamil Nadu’s cause.

Rajasthan bowlers, led by left-arm medium pacer Aniket Choudhary, skittled out Assam for 108 on the opening day of their Ranji Trophy Group C game here Thursday.

At stumps, Rajasthan skipper Mahipal Lomror remained unbeaten on 77 in the company of Robin Bist (48 not out) as the hosts overhauled the visitors total and were ahead by 45 runs.

Rajasthan ended the opening day at 153 for 2. Put into bat, the Assam innings folded up at 108 in just 28.1 overs with Chaudhary (5-38) leading the destruction. Among his victims were Assam openers Rishav Das (3) and Parvez Aziz (0). Chaudhary was ably supported by another pacer Nathu Singh (3-33).

For Assam, number 9 Arup Das (36 not out) and number 10 Ranjit Mali (28) played handy knocks to ensure the side passed the 100-run mark after Assam tottered at 47 for 8.

Das hit four boundaries and two sixes in his 20-ball breezy knock.

In reply, Rajasthan lost openers Amitkumar Gautam (12) and Chetan Bist (10) cheaply, but the innings was resurrected by Lormor and Bist.

Meanwhile, at Jammu, Uttar Pradesh bowled out Jammu and Kashmir for 290 as slow left-arm orthodox bowler Saurabh Kumar picked up 6 wickets. But J and K hit back to leave UP reeling at 31 for 3 in reply by close.

At Agartala, Rahul Dagar hit a hundred as Haryana ended the day at 258 for 7 against Tripura.

At Ranchi, Odisha bowled out Jharkhand for 172, but pacer Varun Aaron led a fight back by picking up two wickets as Odisha were left in a difficult spot at 27 for 3, still adrift by 145 runs.